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I have been a semi-fan of Klaus Doldinger and Passport since the mid-70s and one of their recordings I like best is Blue Tattoo. While I agree that Blue Tattoo is easy on the ears, I emphatically disagree with those who would disparage it as soft jazz. I seriously doubt that any Passport album would get airplay on a soft jazz station.Klaus Doldinger likes to play with his music and in Blue Tattoo, gives the listener a recording that is most enjoyable. My favorite cuts are the mellow Riding On A Cloud, Blue Tattoo, and Daybreak Delight. His trademark sax comes to life on Ragtag and Bobtail where Doldinger blasts out the hard-driving interlude in such a way that anyone listening will want to get up and dance. Rambling is the closest thing here to the Passport of old with the driving beat and the tight point-counterpoint of the instrumentation.I think that Blue Tattoo is the best album with which to introduce Klaus Doldinger and company to the uninitiated. The music is 5-star, but the CD loses a star for the truly sorry liner notes. If this sort of jazz interests you at all, I recommend it as your passport to fusion.

still love listening to this album repeatedly. Never seem to tire of it. Had not been able to hear it for some time as the cassette I recorded shortly after purchasing the LP had simply worn out. somewhere along the line my LP disappeared. But now I'm enjoying rediscovering the whole album. And the quality is quite passable for MP3

Honestly when I first heard this album,I didn't much care for it. Interesting how when a person is listening to something how anything else their listening to effects the experience. This album is still a bit of an odd number. It's one of only a few Passport albums not to have been reissued by Wounded Bird records for example. Not only that but the somewhat simplistic cover art makes this something of an unusual entry in their catalog. Other than that though it does it's job well-to follow up their Oceanliner with the same lineup only minus Kevin Mulligan's vocals. He's only present here on guitar. In a lot of ways this album symbolically kind of picks up where their Sky Blue left off. That is in the sense of them returning to being a primarily instrumental band. At the same time the times were changing fast during the early 90's. The culture was turning fast against anything that resembled any of the extravagance of the previous decades musical expressiveness. Lucky for Passport they were able to have the best of both worlds: the flashy and the subdued all in one sound. So even though this was the second album of the decade it did really begin the "80's" sound of Passport in many ways.

A moodier and often more chilly album even by Passport standards this album features Klaus and the band on some of their more unique compositions. "Riding On A Cloud" is somewhat of a jazzy composition with a lot of time of fanfare. "Radition" is one of the finest songs here-a strong synthesized space funk number with a very strong Arabic type melody that would reflect heavily on where much music would go in the next few decades. "Ragtag And Bobtail" is a more straight forward funk shuffle with great bluesy bass/guitar licks. The title song does an excellent job blending slick fusion and Police-type pop reggae. Over time I've warmed to "Piece For A Rock Orchestra" which,again is a more orchestral fusion number with a very Chick Corea style keyboard lead. Same with the slower funk midtempo groove of "In A Melancholy Way",with one of the finest sax solos Doldinger produces on this recording. "Rambling" is my favorite song here,with Doldinger himself mumbling some rhythmic vocalese through his vocorder (works better than the flat sounding modern auto tune sound) on a very bass synth and guitar oriented sophistifunk melody. "Daybreak Delight" ends the album in much the same way as "Seaside" did the previous album,with a very major keyed type jazz pop number.

Each time I listen to this album,I enjoy the songs more and more. Even the ones I didn't like before. If your listening to a lot of heavy,uptempo and flamboyant jazz-funk/fusion and you want to have some Passport in your collection I wouldn't pick up this album first. Nor any of Grover Washington Jr's 80's era music either. This kind of music is much more dependent of instrumental subtleties and a cooler production style than jaw dropping solos or instrumental flair. It was the perfect type of groove for the era. A leaner,meaner Passport. Since that "naked funk" style defined that groove in many other areas,it's not surprise how well it worked for this band. It would be some variation of this basic sound on which Passport would develop their sound for the 80's on. Also it opened up more of a chance for the individual musicals to solo and work off of their strengths and weaknesses to a greater degree. It will probably take more than one listen over the course of many years,as it did with me to fully appreciate this albums attributes. It's not the sort of thing that hits you over the head right away. You have to get into it. But once you do,it will more than keep you going and moving.

I'm suprised to read some reviewers low opinion of "Blue Tattoo". I think it's brilliant, this is one of my favorite albums of all time. It was the first Passport record I ever heard, but I've since acquired much of their catalog. Yes, it is a departure from their previous work, using rather minimalist arragements that give the tunes an openess that I suppose is hard for some fans to appreciate. Every tune is in a different style, covering new age, prog, swing, reggae, space rock, funk, a ballad, and closing with a gorgeous pop melody called "Daybreak Delight" which you may have heard on radio.

Playing drums on this album is David Crigger, who gives an awesome performance; listen how he swings on "Ragtag and Bobtail" or the powerhouse finish on "Piece For Rock Orchestra". When this album was released I was also listening to Rush's "Moving Pictures"; this is as much of a drummer's album as that one. If you like "Blue Tattoo" also check out "Oceanliner"; not quite as good but similar.

...because I would give this 3 1/2 if I could. "Blue Tattoo" is by no means Passport's worst album--that would be "Oceanliner." In fact, while not innovative, this album is entertaining and a good example of how skilled Doldinger is at crafting pleasing little melodies and grooves. One might consider this "smooth jazz," but there's something about the patented Passport sound that keeps it from being overly commercial.You know, there are different records for different times of the day (as well as people.) For example, when I get up in the morning, I eat breakfast, read the paper, and, after my second cup of coffee, it's time for showering, shaving, etc. This second phase is always accompanied by music cranked up loudly on the stereo. "Blue Tattoo" is the kind of album that works great for this--upbeat, easy on the ears, good variety of tunes.I rate this album higher than most eighties jazz, but lower than the best of Passport. If you are a Passport fan, you shouldn't be afraid to get it. I'm very big on the mid-seventies albums, but was in no way disappointed.